Winning could heal a lot of Moody wounds

Girls basketball team on the mend in time for 31-4A games to start

CORPUS CHRISTI - Short-handed Moody didn't start the season the way it wanted to.

But the Trojans are prepared to make up for it with a strong finish once they get healthy.

After a 5-6 start this season, Moody's girls basketball team (10-7 overall) — preseason state-ranked No. 17 in Class 4A — has built some momentum heading into District 31-4A play after placing third at the McAllen Border Bash tournament this past weekend. The Trojans open the district at 8 p.m. Tuesday at Kingsville.

Despite the likes of returning playoff teams Tuloso-Midway, Ray, defending 31-4A champion Alice and Flour Bluff in its district this season along with Calallen, Moody likes its chances of doing more than just competing for the district crown.

"The district championship is definitely one of our goals," said Trojans coach Myra Nerios, whose team's last district title was in 2004. "We feel we can play with any of the teams in our district. But we're not going to underestimate anyone because we know anybody in our district can win on any given night."

"We have a really good chance to win district," said Moody standout senior guard Natalie Vella, who has overcome a back injury recently. "We have the skills, we've just got to show it."

The Trojans' slow start this season can be attributed to key injuries and an inability to pull out close games, Nerios said.

Moody has been without its starting sophomore point guard Alyssa Salinas this season because of a broken bone in her ankle, although Salinas is expected to return for next week's district home opener against Alice, Nerios said.

Standout senior post Kiana Orise has been playing point guard in Salinas' place, which has taken away from her scoring and rebounding while she runs the offense, Orise said.

The Trojans also haven't been able to hold on to leads late in games, which has cost them in several close losses this season.

Moody dropped a one-point decision to No. 6 3A Rockport-Fulton recently after taking a four-point lead into the fourth quarter. The Trojans also have two losses to 5A Carroll by two (in which they had a fourth-quarter lead) and four points respectively and a two-point overtime loss to Austin Westlake. The Trojans also erased a 20-point deficit only to fall to Victoria West on the road by two points.

"We're just not very consistent right now," said Nerios, who returns all but two players from last season's 16-15 bi-district playoff team. "We'll play a good quarter or a good half but we need to play a complete game. We've got to learn how to finish."

Nerios said Moody will benefit from an improved inside game this season thanks to posts Adrienne Nickelson, a sophomore, and Kierra Sanders, a 6-foot-2 junior, and freshman forward Taylor Williams. That should give the Trojans more balance on offense and provide them with the winning complement to their strong backcourt, which also includes guards Alexis Urtado, a sophomore, and Taylor Garcia, a freshman, this season.

Despite Moody's early season frustrations, Nerios believes this Trojans team is capable of doing more than just extending their postseason streak to eight straight seasons.

"We haven't made it to the regional tournament since (the 2003-04 season in Class 5A) and so if we're going to do it — this is the year because we have the athletes to do it," said Nerios, in her 11th season at Moody.

The three starting seniors Karisa Norfleet, a forward, Orise and Vella, in particular, want to erase the Trojans' recent playoff struggles in which they've advanced to the third round of the playoffs just once in the past five years.

"We really want it this year," Orise said of Moody making a deep playoff run this season. "We really want our senior year in basketball to be the best ever."

Making a trip to San Antonio in late February for the Region IV-4A tournament would go a long way in helping the Trojans do just that.